The huge bonfire, which sits next to the Days Hotel in the Sandy Row area, had been built with hundreds of wooden pallets.

A number of PSNI officers arrived at the scene to ensure traffic was managed in the area around the fire which has been sending a huge cloud of thick, black smoke into the sky over Belfast city centre.

The Fire & Rescue Service said they received a call at 9.33am to a "report of a bonfire alight in the Wellwood Street, Sandy Row area of Belfast this morning".

They added: “Two Fire Appliances from Central Fire Station have been deployed to the scene of a bonfire well alight in the area.

“The Police Service of Northern Ireland are facilitating with traffic distribution and the incident is ongoing at this stage.”

The Fire Service added that firefighters using water jets dealt with the fire.

They added: “The incident finished at 10:19am and is being treated as a deliberate fire.”

The police confirmed that at "this stage" they believe the bonfire was "deliberately ignited".

Chief Inspector Robert Murdie said the fire "has led to disturbances in the area".

He added: "One man in his 30s has been arrested as a result of the disturbances and is in custody helping police with their enquiries.

"NIFRS personnel have extinguished the fire but the area remains closed to traffic at this time. There are no further details at present.”

One local told Belfast Live there are "all sorts of rumours on social media, but not too many facts yet".

A crowd gathered in the area close to the fire and there was a significant police presence including community and TSG officers. Community reps were liaising with police in a bid to ease tensions in the wake of the incident.

One community worker, Eddie Kelly, said people are "angry and disgusted" at the bonfire being lit early.

He added: "Tensions are very high in the area, but we are trying to keep things calm. There's a few different stories about what happened including two fellas being seen running off and then the police getting them.

"But we need to be careful as they may have been just watching what was going and ran off thinking they were going to get blamed."